Looking for some ideas for this Sunday's intercessions (something I usually get others to lead so it isn't just my favourite topics we pray over) I found this in The Intercessions Handbook....

Sisters and brothers in Christ

Let us come to the Lord in hope

Let us pray to the lord in faith

And let us hold to the lord throughout our lives.

 

Lord, keep safe the new-born baby who struggles for life in the hospital incubator

Hear us, good Lord

Give reassurance to the child unnerved by the sound of his parents arguing

Hear us, good Lord

Guard well the teenage tempted to gain acceptance by taking drugs at a party

Hear us, good Lord

Guide clearly the young woman whois not quite sure if her current man is really the one who is tobecome her partner for life

Hear us, good Lord

Give patience to the young man who could make money so much more quickly by bending the rules

Hear us, good Lord

Be close to the young parents, both delighted and stretched to the limits by their first child

Hear us, good Lord

Give hope to the distraught mother, frightened by her anger with her crying baby

Hear us, good Lord

Call back the tempted husband, following his instincts towards another woman

Hear us, good Lord

Give self-confidence to the man in middle age, redundant, bewildered and afraid

Hear us, good Lord

Open the heart of the embittered 50-somerthing who was passed over for the bteer job

Hear us, good Lord

Give freedom and hope to the woman who retired early but is not sure whether she should be elated or depressed

Hear us, good Lord

Guard closely the lonely, the sick and the dispirited, and touch them with your deeper wholeness

Hear us, good Lord

Keep watch with those coming close to their destiny, afraid of the pain and unsure of the future

Hear us, good Lord

And so in your mercy gather to yourself every faithful believer, and those whose faith is known to you alone, and present us all, complete in Christ, to the joy of your coming Kingdom

Hear us, good Lord

Yes, hear us, good Lord.

 

The Intercessions Handbook, John Pritchard, London, SPCK 1997.  p87

There are other volumes now available too.

As they say around these parts.

This sentence in a paper I was reading this morning made me smile, and wonder how firmly emplanted in his cheek was the author's tongue...

"We should avoid jargonistic neologisms where relatively self-explanatory terms would serve the same purpose"

Wilson, W Daniel. "Readers in Texts." PMLA 96, no. 5 (1981): 848-63.

 

Or, as my parents used to say regularly when we were growing up, "never use a big word when a little one will do."  Not sure academics always agree, or practise what they preach.

Epiphany, that lovely mysterious word that gets muddled up with a celebration of strange, exotic visitors to a toddler Christ, but actually speaks of 'coming upon,' of new insights, of fresh experiences of God's presence.  I could have done with a bit of that today, but then worship is not, as I occasionally remind people, about what we get out of it, but about what we offer to God.

Two services, one a leaving service for a minister from our cluster, the other the monthly joint gathering with D+1.

I think I knew how the first was going to be when I was handed an order of service on the way in.  A quick glance down the hymns/songs revealed that some of my unfavourites were there.  Still, it isn't about my pleasure, I thought, it's about worshipping God and giving thanks for a long, successful ministry.  The sermon was dizzying, there's no other word for it - the speaker's testimony, some thoughts on holistic mission, some tributes to the minister and then an altar call complete with 'if this you please stand up.'  It wasn't, in my view, the time of place for the altar call, if only because this had not been agreed with the church ahead of time.  Still, it wasn't about what I liked or thought appropriate, it was about worshipping God, listening for God, responding to God.  Overall, it was a happy event, a packed church and a warm atmosphere.  It was good to catch up with a few friends (who like certain songs as little as I do) and share news of our respective churches.

The second service was a more positive experience - eventually.  After 45 minutes of being alternately irritated by 'suffering is a lovely gift' type hymns and Ecclesiastes at its gloomiest, there were glimpses of hope.  But it really brought home to me the dangers of 'hit and run' preaching because I was so glad some of my folk weren't there to sing of how good it is to be suffering in this life so that we like the next all the more.  I also had to smile when we used new and exciting Mission Praise  to sing two fairly old hymns.  On a normal Sunday I would have thoroughly enjoyed the sermon, skillfully crafted and connecting past, present and future, but not today, not when I have to care for many hurting people with uncertain futures.  The gloom motif was perhaps too strong, the communion not quite the space to 'be' that I would have valued, but overall I was reminded that there is hope even on dark days.

So I am back home not having had a sense of epiphany, indeed having had a few extra issues dropped on me, but knowing that the truth is not about feelings or experiences but in the assurances I offered, as I shared pastoral news, that God's steadfast love never ceases and that God's mercies are renewed daily.

Finally, in need of some humour, here are some of the 'baddest' lines from hymns/songs in the two services.  I leave it as a exercise to reader to discern their origins!

• 'And from his mouth there comes a sound...' (really!)
• 'My lover's breath is sweetest wine/I am his prize and he is mine'  (bear in mind this is written by males!)
• 'Lord, you know that you are welcome here' (Gee, says God, that's nice, it's my creation anyway...)
• 'These are the days of....' (oh no they aren't!)
• 'And the hearts of men are beating with the throbs of deep desire' (to the pure, dear reader, to the pure) (you need Mission Praise for this one!  This verse is omited in BPW for some inexplicable reason!!)

Sensible people do not get up before 8 a.m. on Sundays, not even if they are ministers.  Denominations that think God is impressed by ridiculously early services have, in my view, misunderstood.  But today I was up and ready go by a little after seven and have just finished an essay outline in prose which, by the wonder of technology is already in Manchester and Birmingham.  It may or may not make a lot of sense, though secretly I was quite pleased with it.  I mean, a couple of ten line paragraphs and more than a dozen footnotes for 1200 words, who would not be impressed?!

Lots to do to make it a useful piece of work but for now I am happy!  Now then - lunch and two services to go...

Today I has planned to start work on my essay outline, then life got in the way - sorry Sean, it will happen!

I spent a few minutes with an elderly lady who is at the 'end of life' and then, on a whim, went to visit in hospital the woman for whom we were praying last night.  Literally minutes after I arrived she was called into see the consultant to hear her test results - which were the sort no one should face alone.  Confidentiality means I can't post any more details, but I suspect I will be seeing the inside of part of the LRI fairly regularly over the next few weeks/months.

Every now and then these whims come into my head - and more often than not they are right.  So how does God do that?  And how often do I not hear because I'm too busy being busy?

It's an odd role this one, but there is an amazing sense of privilege when these moments arise.